‘Supa Kadogo’ will retail at Sh1,850 and will be refilled at Sh800/FILE
The cylinder dubbed ‘Supa Kadogo’ is the first of its kind in Kenya and will be available in all National Oil service stations across the country.
A complete ‘Supa Kadogo’ cylinder (including gas) will retail at Sh1,850 and will be refilled at Sh800. Currently the smallest cylinder in the market weighs 6kgs.
National Oil Managing Director Sumayya Hassan-Athmani said the uptake of LPG in the country is being limited by the cost of existing 6kg and 13kg cylinders which are still considered unaffordable to the lower income groups.
“The introduction of this economy size LPG cylinder will address the issue of affordability and is part of our strategy of availing affordable LPG to the masses,” said Hassan-Athmani.
The firm, she added was committed to the promotion of LPG as a greener and cleaner alternative to wood fuel in line with the country’s Vision 2030.
She added that the introduction of the economy size cooking gas cylinder is part of National Oil’s strategy to attain downstream market leadership by 2013.
National Oil recently launched a mobile mini LPG filling plant capable of filling not only full cylinders but also quantities of even one kilo of LPG into existing cylinders.
The corporation plans to develop the mini LPG filling facilities in middle and low income areas including Nairobi’s informal settlements where demand for smaller quantities of LPG is on the rise.
At the moment the industry is grappling with an influx of illegal refillers who have been taking advantage of consumers though under filing cylinders.
The high cost of acquiring LPG equipment including cylinders has been cited as a barrier to wider LPG uptake and usage in the country. The introduction of the 3kg Supa Kadogo cylinder is therefore seen as an incentive for more Kenyans especially those in the lower end of the market to start using the product.
National Oil has partnered with financial institutions including Equity Bank to provide consumers and retailers of National Oil cooking gas with credit to acquire SupaGas cylinders, gas and accessories. The 3kg Supa Kadogo cylinders will be available to the consumer on the same scheme.
The current consumption of LPG in the country is estimated at 90,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) per year and is expected to reach 200,000 MT once the current supply constraints are addressed.
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